1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a connector connecting structure and more particularly, to a connector connecting structure which is superior in connecting workability of connectors and in positioning of connectors at coupling operation thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a conventional connector connecting structure.
This connector connection structure consists of a female connector 2 fixed to an auxiliary device 1 and a male connector 4 provisionally supported by a vehicle body 3. When the auxiliary device 1 is shifted in a coupling operation direction (an arrow W direction) orthogonally to a connector coupling direction (an arrow V direction), the female connector 2 engages the male connector 4 through a slider 5.
The female connector 2 is fixed to the auxiliary device 1, and a plurality of male electric terminals (not shown) each connected to an electric wire 7 are accommodated in a housing 6 made of synthetic resin. And, a through hole 9 for the slider 5 put through the auxiliary device 1 is provided on one side wall 8 of the housing 6, and a through hole 11 to be similar on the other side wall 10 facing the side wall 8 is provided. Further, a notched opening 12 opens diagonally from a middle portion of the other side wall 10 to a front edge of the housing 6, facing the male connector 4.
A pair of supporting walls 13 are provided on the vehicle body 3, and an engaging opening 14 for provisional support of the male connector 4 is formed on each of the supporting walls 13.
As shown in FIG. 8 and FIG. 9, the male connector 4 is provided with an elastic locking arm 18 on both of side walls 16 of a housing 15 made of synthetic resin. The elastic locking arm 18 has an engaging projection 17 corresponding to the supporting wall 13. A plurality of female electric terminals (not shown) connected to each of the electric wires 7 are accommodated in the housing 15. And, in the front edge center of the housing 15, a through groove 19 for the slider 5 is formed from the one side wall 16 to the other side wall 16, and a sliding engagement portion 20 in a rectangle pillar shape is provided on the through groove 19 centrally. Further, on the one side wall 16, a pair, top and bottom, of positioning projections 21 in a rectangular pillar shape are formed.
The slider 5 consists of a horizontal sliding plate 22 and an operating portion 23, and an entrance 24 for the sliding engagement portion 20 of the male connector 4 and a cam groove 25 curving quadratically are formed on the sliding plate 22.
As shown in FIG. 11, the female connector 2 initially engages the male connector 4 through the notched opening 12 by provisionally supporting the male connector 4 to the vehicle body 3 through the elastic locking arm 18 and then shifting the female connector 2 along with the auxiliary device 1 in the coupling operation direction (an arrow W direction) as shown in FIG. 10. Subsequently, on insertion of the slider 5 in an arrow X direction, the sliding engagement portion 20 (FIG. 10) is introduced into the cam groove 25 (FIG. 10) through the entrance 24 (FIG. 10). As is shown in FIG. 12, the male connector 4 is pulled into the female connector 2 in the connector coupling direction (an arrow V direction), thereby connecting the male and female terminals (not shown) and also completing connector coupling. At the same time, engagement of the elastic locking arm 18 is released.
With respect to the above conventional connector connecting structure, there are the following drawbacks.
Firstly, on connection of connectors, since pushing operation of the slider is required, work step increases, which makes assembling process rather complex. And, this lowers an efficiency of assembly work of members having the connectors.
Besides, a fairly severe assembly allowance of the auxiliary device 1 and the vehicle body 3 is required for inserting the slider 5 in the through groove 19. Accordingly, since the sliding engagement portion 20 sometimes does not engage the cam groove 25, connector connection would not be performed surely. And, damage or breakage of the terminals or the housings 6,15 would occur due to interference between them. Also, in case that the male connector 4 has been reverse attached to the vehicle body 3, damage or breakage would occur.
Even if position precision is going to be raised in the present situation, in case of location where a lot of members are related to, the above problems cannot be readily canceled because dimension tolerance of each member affects each other.